The to-do list is different from other lists because it is so
all-encompassing it can include the others. On your to-do list you
could have, for example, "Make pros and cons list re: going to
in-laws this weekend" or "Make list of traits you look for in
opposite sex and make sure you include at least two."

Because it is such a gargantuan thing, there are that many more
reasons to hate it. As with the other lists, I looked down on the
to-do list. Why to-do when you can just do? Besides, there was so
much to do, like beer drinking and girl chasing and proving that
there is no one right answer, that there wasn't enough time to jot
down a to-do list.

As you get older, though, two things happen. You begin to forget
things and you begin to avoid things. Between the two, a lot of
things don't get done that need to get done. So one day you might
write something down on a piece of paper. "Make dentist appt." You
wouldn't have written this down when you were younger because you
could go years without making a dentist appointment and you still
would have teeth in your head. But as you age, you find that if you
go six months without getting your teeth checked you could be
gumming your applesauce.

On another day, you might jot down, "Get lube and oil." When you're
young, you don't write this down because your car only cost 143
bucks and you can just buy another one if your engine blows. But as
a grown-up, you buy grown-up cars, which are so expensive you need
to take out a loan, which causes you to wish you took math after
all because then you might understand why adding one payment to
another payment month after month never totals anything but more
payments.

So now you have two scraps of paper, one with a dentist
appointment, the other with an oil and lube job. One day, you
scribble both on the same piece of paper. That, my friend, is a
list, a to-do list. Your road to ruin.